Re: RESTful Toggle

"Keith P Hassen [email protected] [rest-discuss]" <[email protected]> Wed, 9 Jul 2014 12:02:14 -0400
Newsgroups gmane.comp.web.services.rest
Message-ID <CAP=4TEjy3y_cO_WBOA6g-pK1p6xPiut7GHYC6t0Kd9rAKWa08A@mail.gmail.com> 
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Definitely not a departure, as Erik mentioned I think there is a common
misconception around the use of POST (it offers no guarantees).  You
wouldn't need to POST to /command, rather, you would POST to
/togglablethingy with a body of, for example, "toggle=3Dtrue".

K



On Wed, Jul 9, 2014 at 11:47 AM, 'Simpson, Robby (GE Energy Management)'
[email protected] [rest-discuss] <[email protected]>
wrote:

>
>
> Hi Erik!
>
>
> On 7/9/14, 11:39 AM, "Erik Wilde" <[email protected]> wrote:
>
> >hello robby.
> >
> >On 2014-07-09, 17:29 , 'Simpson, Robby (GE Energy Management)'
> >[email protected] [rest-discuss] wrote:
> >> This particular issue has arisen in the design of home automation
> >>systems. Specifically, I'm working in a standards body (the ZigBee
> >>Alliance) that has classically used a binary protocol that does not
> >>really adhere to any true architectural design (IMHO). I've been
> >>engaged in work that started in ZigBee and has now moved to IEEE
> >>(2030.5) that (attempts to) rigidly stick to a RESTful HTTP design. One
> >>request that has come up is to port toggle switch capability to this
> >>standard. Home automation manufacturers have actually implemented
> >>toggle switches this way in the past (see
> >>http://zigbee.org/Products/ByStandard/ZigBeeHomeAutomation.aspx).
> >
> >it sounds like the scenario we were talking about, that all you want is
> >to tell the resource to "reverse its state". in this case, i'd POST a
> >body that represents this request, in whatever serialization you happen
> >to prefer. the resource toggles. everybody's happy.
>
> OK. Still seems like a bit of a departure from typical RESTful interfaces
> I've seen and has the potential to be a catch-all tunnel for RPC-style
> requests.
>
> E.g.:
> /command, where one could POST all sorts of commands like "toggle."
>
>
> >but i am confused because you wrote earlier that you were concerned
> >about race conditions. which seems to imply that instead of just
> >toggling, you're also assuming that you're "toggling *from* some state".
> >but that wouldn't be the "blind toggle" we discussed. could you clarify
> >a bit how exactly the operation that you're trying to design is defined?
>
> Apologies, a blind toggle is what is desired. As it currently works, in
> the current binary protocol, a button press on a toggle switch simply
> sends a "toggle" command.
>
>
> >
> >cheers,
> >
> >dret.
> >
> >--
> >erik wilde | mailto:[email protected] - tel:+1-510-2061079 |
> > | UC Berkeley - School of Information (ISchool) |
> > | http://dret.net/netdret http://twitter.com/dret |
>
>=20=20
>

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      <p><div dir=3D"ltr"><div class=3D"gmail_default" style=3D"font-family=
:trebuchet ms,sans-serif;font-size:small;color:rgb(51,51,51);">Definitely n=
ot a departure, as Erik mentioned I think there is a common misconception a=
round the use of POST (it offers no guarantees).=C2=A0 You wouldn&#39;t nee=
d to POST to /command, rather, you would POST to /togglablethingy with a bo=
dy of, for example, &quot;toggle=3Dtrue&quot;.<br>
<br></div><div class=3D"gmail_default" style=3D"font-family:trebuchet ms,sa=
ns-serif;font-size:small;color:rgb(51,51,51);">K<br><br></div></div><div cl=
ass=3D"gmail_extra"><br><br><div class=3D"gmail_quote">On Wed, Jul 9, 2014 =
at 11:47 AM, &#39;Simpson, Robby (GE Energy Management)&#39; <a href=3D"mai=
lto:[email protected]">[email protected]</a> [rest-discuss] <span dir=
=3D"ltr">&lt;<a href=3D"mailto:[email protected]" target=
=3D"_blank">[email protected]</a>&gt;</span> wrote:<br>
<blockquote class=3D"gmail_quote" style=3D"border-left:1px #ccc solid;">


<u></u>









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      <p>Hi Erik!</p><div class><br>
<br>
On 7/9/14, 11:39 AM, &quot;Erik Wilde&quot; &lt;<a href=3D"mailto:dret@berk=
eley.edu" target=3D"_blank">[email protected]</a>&gt; wrote:<br>
<br>
&gt;hello robby.<br>
&gt;<br>
&gt;On 2014-07-09, 17:29 , &#39;Simpson, Robby (GE Energy Management)&#39;<=
br>
&gt;<a href=3D"mailto:[email protected]" target=3D"_blank">robby.simpson=
@ge.com</a> [rest-discuss] wrote:<br>
&gt;&gt; This particular issue has arisen in the design of home automation<=
br>
&gt;&gt;systems.  Specifically, I&#39;m working in a standards body (the Zi=
gBee<br>
&gt;&gt;Alliance) that has classically used a binary protocol that does not=
<br>
&gt;&gt;really adhere to any true architectural design (IMHO).  I&#39;ve be=
en<br>
&gt;&gt;engaged in work that started in ZigBee and has now moved to IEEE<br=
>
&gt;&gt;(2030.5) that (attempts to) rigidly stick to a RESTful HTTP design.=
  One<br>
&gt;&gt;request that has come up is to port toggle switch capability to thi=
s<br>
&gt;&gt;standard.  Home automation manufacturers have actually implemented<=
br>
&gt;&gt;toggle switches this way in the past (see<br>
&gt;&gt;<a href=3D"http://zigbee.org/Products/ByStandard/ZigBeeHomeAutomati=
on.aspx" target=3D"_blank">http://zigbee.org/Products/ByStandard/ZigBeeHome=
Automation.aspx</a>).<br>
&gt;<br>
&gt;it sounds like the scenario we were talking about, that all you want is=
<br>
&gt;to tell the resource to &quot;reverse its state&quot;. in this case, i&=
#39;d POST a<br>
&gt;body that represents this request, in whatever serialization you happen=
<br>
&gt;to prefer. the resource toggles. everybody&#39;s happy.<br>
<br></div>
OK.  Still seems like a bit of a departure from typical RESTful interfaces<=
br>
I&#39;ve seen and has the potential to be a catch-all tunnel for RPC-style<=
br>
requests.<br>
<br>
E.g.:<br>
/command, where one could POST all sorts of commands like &quot;toggle.&quo=
t;<div class><br>
<br>
&gt;but i am confused because you wrote earlier that you were concerned<br>
&gt;about race conditions. which seems to imply that instead of just<br>
&gt;toggling, you&#39;re also assuming that you&#39;re &quot;toggling *from=
* some state&quot;.<br>
&gt;but that wouldn&#39;t be the &quot;blind toggle&quot; we discussed. cou=
ld you clarify<br>
&gt;a bit how exactly the operation that you&#39;re trying to design is def=
ined?<br>
<br></div>
Apologies, a blind toggle is what is desired.  As it currently works, in<br=
>
the current binary protocol, a button press on a toggle switch simply<br>
sends a &quot;toggle&quot; command.<div class><br>
<br>
&gt;<br>
&gt;cheers,<br>
&gt;<br>
&gt;dret.<br>
&gt;<br>
&gt;-- <br>
&gt;erik wilde | mailto:<a href=3D"mailto:[email protected]" target=3D"_bla=
nk">[email protected]</a>  -  tel:<a href=3D"tel:%2B1-510-2061079" value=3D=
"+15102061079" target=3D"_blank">&#43;1-510-2061079</a> |<br>
&gt;            | UC Berkeley  -  School of Information (ISchool) |<br>
&gt;            | <a href=3D"http://dret.net/netdret" target=3D"_blank">htt=
p://dret.net/netdret</a> <a href=3D"http://twitter.com/dret" target=3D"_bla=
nk">http://twitter.com/dret</a> |<br>
<br>
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